Sleep, Smoking, Alcohol & Head Injuries — The Overlooked Brain Killers
Sleep, Smoking, Alcohol & Head Injuries — The Overlooked Brain Killers By Dr. Mike We often focus on diet, exercise, and blood sugar when it comes to brain health—and rightly so. But there’s a quieter set of risk factors that deserve just as much attention: 🧠 Sleep, smoking, alcohol, and head trauma. Each of these […]
Sleep: You’re probably not getting enough part two
Most of the information for this posting comes from Matthew Walker’s book “Why We Sleep.” Sleep is important! It accounts for one third of our lives. Wakefulness is actually low level brain damage which requires a good night of sleep for a person to properly recover. In 2012, Rochester University found that the brain has […]
JET LAG: Don’t Start Your Vacation Exhausted
Whether you have flown to another coast or another continent, you have likely noticed you felt a little worn out or “off” afterwards. Sometimes that feeling would last for days, cutting into precious vacation time. The more time zones, the worse that feeling can be. We can blame this on jet lag. Jet lag, also […]
Sleep, part four
Chemicals and sleep: Alcohol is a sedative which knocks you out but causes fragmented sleep. You wake up more often and it also reduces rapid eye movement sleep. It causes you to wake up unrefreshed. Alcohol also raises the body temperature making it more difficult to sleep. In addition, it raises the heart rate. Usually […]
Sleep: You’re Probably Not Getting Enough (Part 3)
Continuing our discussion on sleep this week, let’s look at some of the issues that come with our modern day conveniences. We are dark deprived and need to sleep in a dark environment to produce melatonin. (Melatonin is a hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycle). When we use our computers/i-pads/ i-phones within 2 […]
Sleep: You’re Probably Not Getting Enough (Part 2)
We continue our sleep discussion this week by reviewing the consequences of inadequate quality sleep. As the warm weather continues, some of us are trying to work towards our “summer bodies”- a slightly more fit version of ourselves. It is important to note that dieting while sleep deprived is much less effective in […]
Sleep: You’re probably not getting enough
Most of the information for this posting comes from Matthew Walker’s book “Why We Sleep.” Sleep is important! It accounts for one third of our lives. Wakefulness is actually low level brain damage which requires a good night of sleep for a person to properly recover. In 2012, Rochester University found that the brain […]
CANNABIS: Friend or Foe (Part 3 of a 3 part exploration)
Insomnia affects just about everybody at some point in their life. About 25% of Americans experience acute insomnia each year, while most recover, some go on to develop chronic insomnia. The most common causes of insomnia are about what you would expect; stress, shift schedules, poor sleep habits, mental health disorders, medical conditions, medications and […]